We expect to finish scraping down the remaining loose rock on the face of
last Thursday’s rockslide by mid-day today. Then it will take several
hours to dismantle the crane used to that work and get it out of the Park.
(attached is the180′ tall crane working during the snow squalls Monday
morning).
The final step will be to re-pave the stretch of pavement that has been
damaged by the heavy, steel tracked equipment.
We expect to re-open that end of Little River Road by later this evening.
This just in from the National Park Service:
A new rockslide has blocked the western end of Little River Road within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The slide is about 2 miles west of the Metcalf Bottoms, so an 8 mile-long portion of the Little River Road is currently closed between Metcalf Bottoms Picninc Area and the Townsend Junction.
Traffic that would normally transit that section is being diverted out of the Park unto US 321 in Townsend then north on US 321 to the Lyon Springs Road in Wears Valley, where motorists can re-enter the Park on the Wear Cove Road to Metcalf Bottoms and continue east on Little River to Newfound Gap Road and on to either Gatlinburg or Cherokee. Due to bridge weight limits, no large motorhomes or buses can use that alternate route. These larger vehicles must continue on US 321 into Pigeon Forge.
Park crews are enroute to get a good look at the new slide. No estimated time of repairs is available.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is now recruiting rising 8th grade girls for the second summer Girls in Science Camp at its environmental residential center, Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont located near Townsend, Tenn.
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Source: National Park Service
Officials at Great Smoky Mountains National Park have announced that the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division has awarded a contract to Bell & Associates Highway Construction of Brentwood, TN to design and construct the next section of the uncompleted Foothills Parkway.
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Source: National Park Service
The Parks As Classrooms (PAC) program operates March 22 through May 21 and provides classroom students in grades K-12 the opportunity to participate in free, hands-on, outdoor education programs.
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Source: National Park Service
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